The Power of Attraction
by hanzsolo2
Summary: Mizuki never intended to become a Hero. And then her brother died, and becoming a Hero was the only thing she could do in order to keep his legacy alive. Somewhere along the way, however, it occurs to her that maybe she actually wants this. How can she not when she's surrounded by a new generation of Heroes who embody everything she hoped to be? OC Centric. Cursing, death, etc.
1. Beneath the Cherry Blossom Tree

_**Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Mizuki and the Shirogane family belong to Kohei Horikoshi and the developers of My Hero Academy. **_

* * *

The night before Mizuki started her first day of school, she dreamed of her brother.

The dream was fleeting, filled with vivid colours and a sense of surrealness she knew was impossible. But she allowed herself to indulge in the moment of sheer lucidity anyway; even when she felt her subconscious stirring to wake completely the next morning.

She found herself beneath a lone cherry blossom tree, the same one that stood outside her family's large manor and the same one she'd once visited daily. The solitary pink tree stood bright against the sky, poised precisely on top of the hill. A few petals slowly and carefully floated towards the dewy grass, dancing as the wind caught them in their fall from grace. The dark blue sky was growing lighter as the seconds passed; night turning slowly to day.

From behind the thick trunk of the tree she heard a rustle, and Mizuki turned only to have her breath catch in her throat when a familiar figure stepped out from behind. Her brother emerged from where he had stood in tandem with the rising sun, and Mizuki averted her gaze when the sunlight caught in his hair; too bright and dreamlike for her to comprehend.

The first thing she noticed when she turned back to face him was that he looked shorter. Younger too, with cheeks that would forever hold onto its remnants of baby fat; a painful reminder that he'd died on the cusp of adolescence. Too young to have truly lived.

As though aware of her inner turmoil, understanding bloomed in her brother's eyes and though he had yet to say anything, Mizuki obliged without question when he sat down and patted the spot next to him.

Petals fell all around them, each more beautiful than the last; and in the distance, Mizuki could hear wind bells chiming.

No one said a thing.

In the two years since he'd died, Mizuki had never had a dream like this. A dream where there wasn't the smell of rubble and smoke filling the air, a phantom weight on her chest or the sight of her brother's vacant eyes staring up at her from a ways away.

To her surprise, there was only she and her brother sitting beneath the cherry blossom tree that they'd childishly declared as their own as children. Sitting side by side as it had been once upon a time. (And if her inner subconscious was aware that one twin would forever be suspended in time while she grew and blossomed as though she were the tree itself, Mizuki was glad she didn't wake then and there to scream.)

By the time her brother turned to face her, Mizuki watched with downturned lips as his smile turned a little more sad, a little more bittersweet in its finality. He smiled a shade of _I know what you're doing _and _it's going to be okay _that caused a familiar sense of desperation to stir in her chest.

In the distance, the sound of wind chimes reached a crescendo and when it finished; Mizuki woke just as she opened her mouth to speak.

* * *

Her fist slammed into the punching bag once more, the large thing beginning to swing back and forth as her chest heaved. Her knuckles, as wrapped up as they were, throbbed with a familiar burn; a tell-tale sign that she'd begun to outdo herself.

Ordinarily, Mizuki would've been fine with punching to her heart's content but as someone who had yet to reach her new school, continuing was probably not the best thing for her to do. Especially when there was nothing to say that they wouldn't be doing something extreme for orientation day.

At a school like the ever prestigious Yuuei Academy, it was best to expect the unexpected.

Which meant that she needed to be on the top of her game.

"You have everything?" Her father asked, appearing in the doorway of the long training room. His hair was disheveled, as it usually was in the mornings (or until, Mizuki thought bitterly, he actually bothered to get dressed), though for once his eyes seemed to look at her with something other than his usual indifference.

Tadashi Shirogane was, to politely put it, a mountain of a man. He had dark silver hair that was usually styled in an undercut, but had long since grown into a messy set of curls. His skin used to have the slightest tan to it, but after months of isolation, he stood with an unhealthy shine to his pallor. Dark circles sat beneath his sky blue eyes, though it seemed to have lightened since the last time Mizuki saw him.

How he looked was still a far cry from the lively and proud man he used to be, but after her brother's second death anniversary and her mother's recent abandonment; Mizuki held her tongue.

She was hurt and upset, sure. But so was her father, and for that, Mizuki accepted the shaky smile he offered her as though he hadn't pushed her away for the past month.

He didn't bring up his behaviour nor his actions, of course, but she wasn't surprised. Her parents never talked about their feelings, not even when her brother had just died. And with her mother out of the picture, Mizuki doubted her father was going to change.

"Yeah, I'm ready." She mumbled quietly, discarding the bandages into a nearby bin. Silently, she followed him out of the training room, through the hallway and into the main room; buttoning up her blazer that she picked up from the chair nearby.

"You okay to take me today? You don't have to, you know," Her father's eyes drifted past her head, and Mizuki followed his line of site to the large window that overlooked their backyard.

"I can take you," He said thickly, eyes distant and sad. "I can do this for you."

If he noticed that Mizuki caught him staring at the top of the small hill that sat outside their backyard, he didn't mention it. And if he realized that she knew he was obviously talking to someone who was _not_ her, he didn't seem to care. (If anything, Mizuki was tempted to ask whether he'd had a similar dream.)

Instead, her father cleared his throat, shook his head and flashed his shaky smile to her once more. "I'm just going to hop in the shower and then we can go, don't want you late on your first day…"

With a conflicted stare of her own, Mizuki watched the husk of a man scramble his way back upstairs before she glanced over her shoulder and to what had caught his attention in the first place.

In the distance, a lone cherry blossom tree swayed with the morning breeze.

* * *

When Mizuki was younger, she and her brother would visit the lone cherry blossom tree daily.

Beneath its shade, they'd play a plethora of games; though, usually, they'd end up playing Heroes and Villains - her brother's favourite game. When they didn't, they'd simply sit and marvel at the changing skies. Anything to keep them out of the house and in their own little world.

When he died, visiting the tree became something that was almost taboo (kind of the same way it became taboo in the house to bring him up, Mizuki thought). Because in a way, it just didn't feel right visiting the spot again when it had been claimed by the both of them.

Of course, when Mizuki walked up the small hill and towards the tree two years older than she'd been the last time she visited the tree; she couldn't help but let nostalgia wash over her, encompassing in all its glory.

Gently, she raised her fingers to a set of messily carved initials that sat at the trunk of the tree and closed her eyes as she traced the lines. The action was familiar, but not as much as the feeling of longing that settled in her stomach.

_S.H + S.M _

"Hey Haru," she greeted softly, the wind dancing through strands of silver hair. "It's been a while, huh."


	2. An Old Face Among the New

_**Disclaimer: All characters, with the exception of Mizuki and the Shirogane family belong to Kohei Horikoshi and the developers of My Hero Academy.**_

* * *

Between herself and Haru, Mizuki had never been much of a social butterfly.

Socializing for her had always been something that required a lot of energy, which is why things had been much easier when Haru had been around. Despite being twins, she and her brother were as different as day is to night. Which was quite ironic, now that Mizuki thought about it.

Certainly her parents had been onto something when they'd named she and her brother after the moon and sun.

Still, Haru was the social butterfly between the two of them. He could walk into a room and instantly click with whoever was there, no matter how stoic or shy they might've been. Mizuki, on the other hand, never bothered with making friends. There were other kids who came to her father's dojo that she interacted with, sure. But as far as friends went, she had only extended the title to two people.

There was Haru and there was -

"Shiro?"

Mizuki knew that voice.

Slowly, the young girl lifted her gaze from her desk and met a pair of warm brown eyes. As she took in the familiar face that greeted her, she found the memories of the only other boy she had trusted aside from her brother drifting from her mind. Almost like petals falling from a tree.

Surprise coloured her expression for a brief moment, before it vanished just as quickly and a small, albeit tentative, smile curled its way onto her lips; a poor attempt at a hello, though it was the most she could manage.

"Ojiro," She greeted quietly, "hello."

Mashirao Ojiro had been the only other kid her age at her father's dojo, with the exception of Haru. The Shirogane twins had known the blonde-haired boy since they were eight, and while Mizuki could say with the utmost confidence that Ojiro was a diligent and strong student and opponent in the martial arts world; she couldn't really say what he was like outside of the dojo.

Haru knew, of course.

In the years since they'd started training together in the same class Haru had slowly, but surely, befriended the quiet boy. Mizuki was always too scared to initiate conversation with him (_"Ojiro-kun isn't scary," Haru chuckled, ruffling Mizuki's hair, "there's nothing to be scared about, baka-zuki,"_), too dependent on Haru gradually integrating her into their bubble.

Only when it seemed as though they were finally getting to know each other thanks to her brother; Haru died, her parents pulled Mizuki from the dojo indefinitely and Mizuki never saw Ojiro again.

A feeling of sadness settled in her stomach.

"I didn't know you were planning on coming to Yuuei," Ojiro said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "It's nice to see you again."

Mizuki dug her fingers into her palms, the little smile she had on her face beginning to waver. Out of all her new classmates, only Ojiro would known that becoming a Hero had not been Mizuki's first goal.

"Yeah, I guess after everything…" she trailed off softly, watching as Ojiro's eyes softened. Purposely, she turned her gaze to the front of the room; her words dying on the tip of her tongue as something caught her attention.

Ojiro must've arrived with an influx of students, because there was an argument taking place a few rows in front involving a blonde-haired boy she didn't recognize and the spectacled boy who'd introduced himself as Iida Tenya earlier. From the way Ojiro quietened where he stood, Mizuki figured he was probably watching the scene, too.

Iida waved his arm in a scolding manner, his loud voice echoing in the long room as he reprimanded the boy on his unkempt appearance and disrespect for the school's property. Like the rest of her new classmates, Mizuki was riveted with the scene.

As Iida pointed out, the boy _did_ look a little on the rough side with his spiky hair and loose clothes. And maybe it _was_ bold of him to keep his feet on top of his desk, but just as much as Iida had the right to comment on his actions; the boy had just the same right to speak freely in return. So when he did reply with extremely vulgar language and a 'mightier than thou' attitude that no one, certainly not Iida, had been expecting, Mizuki snorted into her hands.

(It wasn't so much his language that made her want to laugh, but rather, Iida's reaction. Mizuki had never seen someone look so scandalized, it was _insane_.)

Ojiro seemed to have the same thought as her, because he caught her attention once more as he tapped her on the shoulder.

"Makes you think of how interesting this year will be, especially with characters such as those two," he said, smiling good-naturedly as Mizuki lowered her hands. "Is it bad that I want to laugh?" He whispered underneath his breath.

The sadness Mizuki felt earlier vanished as she snorted aloud this time, and with Ojiro's surprised laughter ringing in her ears, the initial awkwardness that existed between them after not seeing each other in so long dissipated as she laughed along with him like the old acquaintances they were.

When they settled back into silence, Mizuki's smile matched Ojiro's in its sincerity.

_You were right, Haru_, the silver-haired girl thought, beginning to feel somewhat melancholic. _Ojiro-kun isn't scary at all. _

That thought alone was enough to distract the young girl from the long yellow sleeping bag that slowly slithered into the room.

* * *

_**Hey guys, it's been a while but here's a new story to start the new year!**_

_**I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of TPoA and Mizuki's brief introduction. **__**Her Quirk will be explained in the next chapter, but until then, tell me: what are your thoughts so far? **__**If you enjoyed this chapter and want to keep updated, please favourite this story!**_

_**Much love, **_

**_-hanzsolo2_**


	3. A Logical Teacher's First Impression

_**A/N: This chapter includes spoilers from "Chapter 64" of **__**My Hero Academia: Illegals.**__** You may consider this a filler chapter, but honestly; I LOVED writing this chapter and I hope you do too! **_

* * *

The path to becoming a Hero is not an easy one.

And no one knew this more than the ever-elusive, homeroom teacher for Class 1-A. In his twelve years of being an underground Hero, Shota Aizawa had learned many things about what the job entailed. He'd learned the hard way, too.

The life of a Hero was a dangerous one, and as much as the media liked to glamorize the occupation; the bittersweet truth was that, sometimes, not everyone lasted in the industry. The lifestyle was too dangerous for some, too demanding for those who expected only money and fame.

People failed to recognise that, by idolising Heroes and what they meant to do and be, they were creating a toxic power-relationship in which the pedestal they were placing them on existed as the same pillar holding society together. Without Heroes, society would most likely crumble.

It's why Shota believed only the strongest, both mentally and physically, could make it in the industry. And why he stood in front of his new homeroom class, onyx eyes assessing the students that occupied his room before he locked eyes with one in particular.

Out of all the students he had enrolled in his homeroom, there were only a certain few that caught his attention. And not in the good way, either.

From his previous interactions with the number two Hero, Shouto Todoroki was on the top of his list. The boy had two-toned hair that was split perfectly down the middle, with heteromatic eyes to complete his half-and-half look. His Quirk was registered as half-cold, half-hot, and while that in itself was something to monitor (two Quirks usually needed extreme control to use); Aizawa was more interested in the boy's behaviour.

The right side of his face was covered by a scar that swallowed his eye, and while Shota could've chalked it up to a training accident or something of a similar nature; Aizawa recognised the blank stare Todoroki had as he watched him step out of his sleeping bag. Dissociation was a common symptom of someone who dealt with something traumatic.

For that reason alone, Mizuki Shirogane was also on Shota's list. The girl was one of the taller girls in class, with long silver hair that fell behind her in soft waves and slightly downturned eyes that reminded Shota of a sleepy cat. Unlike Todoroki, who seemed to shroud himself with an air of cold indifference and aloofness to keep the others away; Shirogane was quite the opposite.

Shota could see the bereaved look in her periwinkle eyes as clear as day, haunting in a way that he was personally familiar with.

_(It looked too much like the look in his own eyes all those years ago.)_

According to her files, the young girl lost her brother in a villian attack two years prior. There wasn't much details included about the incident, not enough for Shota to fully grasp the severity of her trauma, but there wasn't much written about Todoroki's accident either. Sometimes, he supposed, obscurity was easier to achieve if one had more than enough money to spare.

The only difference Shota noted about the girl was that, unlike Todoroki, she seemed to be assimilating well to the class; if her brief interaction with Mashirao Ojiro indicated anything.

Still, Shota ignored the haunted look in her eyes and found himself staring into a sea of green.

* * *

_("Come on, Shota!" "You can do it, Shota!" His voice crackled through his radio, bright and hopeful.)_

* * *

Izuku Midoriya, despite his performance during the entrance exam, was the one non-recommendation student who'd earned himself a place on his list. The boy, from what he'd seen, was too reckless. Too willing to sacrifice himself for someone else that Shota considered the trait more unheroic than heroic.

It was expected, really. That in comparison to Todoroki's aloof behaviour and Shirogane's sad gaze that were each concerning in their own ways, it was the greenette's bright and hopeful eyes that unnerved him the most.

* * *

_("Come on, Shota!" "You can do it, Shota!" His voice crackled through his radio, bright and hopeful. Loud and echoin-)_

* * *

With a displeased frown, Shota shoved one of the uniforms he held into the green-haired boys arms.

"I'm Aizawa Shota, your homeroom teacher," He introduced plainly. Multiple pairs of eyes blinked at him. "I know this is sudden. But put these on and meet me outside on the P.E grounds."

Dutifully, Shota's new homeroom students filed out of the class in a hurry. As they went, his eyes darted from student to student, equally assessing the rest of his, hopefully, unproblematic class.

However, as hopeful as he was that he'd only need to worry about three students in particular, the long-haired teacher grimaced as the last of the students left.

"It's irrational to think I'll need to be wary of just those three," he muttered, quite glumly.

_After all_, he thought sullenly, _the path to becoming a Hero is not an easy one._

* * *

_"Come on, Shota!" Oboro cheered._

_"You can do it, Shota!" His voice crackled through the radio, bright and hopeful. _

_Loud and echoing._

* * *

**_A/N: Honestly, after uncovering a little about Aizawa's origin story; I like to think why he's so cold towards Midoriya at first has a lot to do with the fact that Midoriya reminds him of Shirakumo. Bright, eager and so very self-sacrificing. He's already seen someone so youthful and bright-eyed die (not to mention, someone so close to him), so seeing someone who has the exact same twinkle in his eyes is probably TERRIFYING. _**

**_ So yes, I wanted to have a lone chapter from Eraserhead's perspective so I could explore how he felt not only about Midoriya, but about Mizuki too as she (unknowingly, of course) has been through something similar to him. _**

**_Expect more chapters from his perspective, because highkey, I am making dad!Aizawa happen. _**

**_I also want to explore other character's perspectives, as this is not yet a OC x _ story. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think!_**

**_~hanzsolo_**


	4. Yueei's Extreme Orientation Day

_**A/N: I honestly struggled with this chapter. It might be because it's a filler chapter, or it might be because writing certain scenes become redundant after all the BNHA stories I've written. Still, I hope you enjoy. **_

* * *

The orientation day was going just as Mizuki expected it to;

With an extreme turn of events that made even her eyebrows shoot up with surprise.

_"A QUIRK ASSESSMENT TEST!?"_ Her classmates echoed around her, disbelieving for various reasons.

It seemed that her sensei, despite his tired and scruffy appearance, was not a man to be taken lightly. Not that anyone would now, seeing as he'd just announced that they would be partaking in an impromptu test that hadn't been part of the schedule.

Mizuki was settled next to Ojiro in the sea of students, lips pressed into a thin line as she stared at the tired looking man. One didn't just become the homeroom teacher for a class of potential-Heroes if they didn't have the knowledge and experience to back themselves up, so it'd be foolish to become dismissive with her sensei so quickly, unassuming appearance and all. Especially when she reached a verdict on the man.

From the way Ojiro's head tilted to the side in thought, Mizuki figured he had reached a similar conclusion.

Her new sensei was a Hero, and based on his demeanor, Mizuki had to guess that he was an underground one at that. It would explain the bags that hung beneath his eyes, and the way he held himself with an air of knowledge only a seasoned professional carried.

Mizuki and Ojiro shared a quick, but meaningful, look; silently agreeing that Aizawa-sensei was not to be trifled with.

"B-but what about the welcoming ceremony? The orientation?" A girl with short brown hair exclaimed towards the front, nervously biting her lip.

The sea of students rippled with agreement.

"If you're going to become a Hero, you don't have time for such leisurely events." Aizawa-sensei explained, his voice stern. "Yueei's selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how the teachers run their classes. Truthfully, I find it illogical of you all to expect an ordinary high school experience when the career pathway you have chosen is far from it."

Aizawa-sensei peeled his eyes from the students, narrowing his stare on a particular spot near the end of the group. To Mizuki's surprise, he beckoned the foul-mouthed blonde from earlier towards him with a sharp, jerky nod.

"Bakugo, you finished at the top of the practical exam, right? In junior high, what was your best score for the softball throw?" Aizawa-sensei asked.

The blonde, Bakugo, folded his arms over his chest with a huff. "Sixty-seven metres," He grumbled, lips curling into a displeased scowl. It was the first time Mizuki heard him say anything without a curse word woven into his speech, which was an improvement, really. Though, somehow, she doubted he'd simmer any more than that.

Aizawa handed Bakugo the softball that he'd been holding, before he gestured for the blonde to step into a circle lined by marker. "Then, try doing it with your Quirk," He said, "You can do whatever you want as long as you stay in the circle."

Mizuki shifted where she stood, periwinkle eyes glued to the blonde-haired boy as he reared his arm back with a manic grin. Smoke billowed from his hand, and just when Mizuki felt like she knew what his Quirk was exactly, he launched the ball into the air with a resounding bang.

"- _DIE_!" Bakugo thundered, almost louder than his own explosion.

In the distance, the ball Bakugo threw became nothing more than a speck of dust before it vanished completely. As it did, her class fell into a stunned silence, all seemingly shocked with what they'd just witnessed. Aizawa-sensei, on the other hand, merely let out a low hum before he showed Bakugo's score.

At the 705.3 metres that greeted them in vivid red, the entire class exploded into noise once more, including Ojiro and herself.

"That was impressive," Ojiro spoke, eyes wide and bright. Behind him, his tail wagged slightly. "Yes," She agreed slowly, her gaze returning to the satisfied blonde, "but I won't tell him that. He looks like his ego is big enough already as it is."

Next to her, her companion spluttered quietly, having not expected the harsh, albeit true, comment.

When it seemed as though he was about to reply, however, the two students had their attention drawn to the end of the group, where a pink-skinned girl raised her fists up and cheered.

"What's this? It looks fun! We can use our Quirks as much as we want!" She exclaimed, joyfully. To her right, a blonde-haired boy with a lightning bolt streak in his hair slapped her shoulder in friendly camaraderie. "As expected from the Hero course!" He announced, proudly.

Unbeknownst to the two and to the rest of the students' growing horror, Aizawa-sensei's face darkened.

Next to her, Ojiro's tail stopped wagging.

"It looks fun, huh?" Aizawa-sensei echoed, onyx eyes dark and unyielding. Beneath his stare, the two students who'd spoken withered. "You have three years to become a hero. Will you have an attitude like that the whole time?" He asked rhetorically before he smiled, eyes glinting with mirth. The look in his eyes promised that they would soon regret their complacency.

Goosebumps crawled up Mizuki's arms as she lowered her head, uncomfortable beneath the weight of his stare.

Silently, she wondered if, somehow, her teacher knew that she could understand his sudden anger. Resonate with it, even. As someone who'd lost her brother in a villain attack, she out of all people knew how imperative Heroes were in dealing with calamities whose time and place could not be predicted.

Natural disasters, big accidents and selfish villains were no joking matter. And neither were Heroes, whose jobs were to reverse those situations.

With that in mind, Mizuki lifted her gaze back to her teacher in silent agreement.

_Whatever he's about to do will be extreme_, she thought, _but it will be necessary so that my classmates realize that this class is not a place to have fun. The life of a Hero is not an easy one. Which means the next three years will be hard, but it will prepare us in all the ways that matter. _

If Aizawa-sensei noticed that Mizuki had caught on to his plan, he made no show of it.

Instead, he hummed, almost mockingly.

"All right," he clicked his tongue. "Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion."

The sea of students Mizuki found herself in crashed into one another, suddenly dumbstruck.

"HUH!?" They exclaimed altogether, including the more reserved students.

Aizawa-sensei's taunting grin did not waver.

"We're free to do what we want about the circumstances of our students," He explained shortly, spreading his arms out in an uncharastically dramatic manner.

"Welcome to Yuuei's hero course!"

* * *

_**Headcannon I've included: When he's excited or feeling particularly happy, Ojiro unknowingly wags his tail.**_


	5. The Tests

Mizuki's classmates were _extraordinary_.

In each test, Mizuki noted that at least one or two students outshone the rest.

For the fifty-metre dash, Iida dominated the course in less than four seconds. Which was unsurprising, really, considering that he had literal engines protruding from his calves. Another boy with twinkling eyes and a bright disposition propelled himself towards the finish line with a laser beam he'd shot from his stomach, though there seemed to be a small interval every three seconds his laser was activated.

During the long-distance run, Yaoyorozu, the other female recommendation student in their class, simply pulled a motorized scooter from her hunched form as everyone watched, transfixed. It paled in comparison to the tidal wave of ice Todoroki used to_ (surf? Yeah, Mizuki couldn't come up with anything other than surf to describe the slab of ice he'd passed her with)_ pass all of them, but it was still impressive in its own right.

The tests all went by relatively quickly, to be honest. During the grip-strength test, a boy with multiple limbs absolutely destroyed the test; both literally and figuratively. Even with her impressive score of 102kg, nothing could surpass the inhumane 576kg he had achieved.

Unlike most of the class, Mizuki fell into the small category of students who possessed a Quirk that simply did not suit any of the tests. Which was fine with her, anyway.

Even if she'd been pulled from the Dojo after Haru's passing, that didn't mean she'd done nothing at home. Her father, before he'd resigned from the Dojo and subjected himself to a life of wasting away at home, was one of the best martial arts trainers Tokyo had ever seen. (Mind you, Tadashi Shirogane kind of had to be since the Silver Dragon Martial Arts Dojo _was_ registered under his name, as far as the TBN was concerned)

Still, in between the period between Haru's passing and Mizuki's admittance to Yueei, the young girl had done what any other reasonable person would've done if they too aspired to get into Yueei: made use of the abandoned training room that was pocketed away in the vast space of her home. The fact she was hardly breaking a sweat during some of the tests was a testament that her training regime had prepared her well.

It seemed Ojiro was in a similar boat, as his tail hadn't really been useful during any of the tests, which made Mizuki all the more confident in herself. With or without her Quirk, she'd be able to finish the day with a reasonable placing like the brown-eyed boy next to her. From their years of vigorous training, the two were both well developed athletes.

Of course, the topic of not having a Quirk suited for the apprehension test caused Mizuki to study the sea of students that surrounded her, trying to weed out those who were faced with a similar dilemma. Besides herself and Ojiro, there was a green-haired boy and a girl with an invisibility Quirk who also seemed to be relying on their natural strength in the interim.

Only, the green-haired boy seemed to be doing particularly worse than the rest of them.

In fact, the only time Mizuki had ever seen him complete a test with a semi-decent score was during the long-distance run.

Periwinkle eyes followed the boy as he staggered towards Aizawa-sensei, a soft exhale leaving Mizuki's lips as she tilted her head.

The green-haired boy stood in the middle of the softball circle, shakily breathing as he reared his arm back. For a brief moment, the air around him crackled with an unseen force of energy before -

"46 Metres," Aizawa-sensei's monitor beeped.

From where he stood, their sensei's scarves whirled in the air, accompanied by his long hair. And with his onyx eyes now a vibrant red, the hair that stood on the back of Mizuki's neck rose with attention. Realization slammed into her like a truck.

_Eraserhead, huh?_ She noted, eyes widening just a fraction. _Wouldn't have expected an Underground Hero to be our homeroom teacher. _

"I erased your Quirk," Aizawa-sensei held the green-haired boy's astonished gaze, "From what I can tell, you can't control your Quirk, can you?"

With every step he took towards the green-haired teen, the less Mizuki could hear. Which was fine, considering it didn't take much context to understand what was happening.

It seemed that, in the same way she noted that the boy hadn't been doing too well in the tests they'd completed, the same could be said about their sensei.

Aizawa-sensei's scarves latched onto the boy then, reeling him towards the tall man as Mizuki and her classmates watched, curious. No one could hear what was being said (whether or not the girl with phone jacks for earlobes could hear was still up for debate) but from the way the boy paled, Mizuki figured what Aizawa-sensei said wasn't anything nice.

Slowly, the boy walked back into the circle as Aizawa-sensei settled back near them. His shoulders weren't as hunched as they were before, kinda as though he was consciously trying to keep himself upright, but Mizuki noted that he seemed to be biting his lip more stubbornly as to not let anything slip out.

For a moment, Mizuki felt a stab of pity for the green-haired teen.

And then he glanced over his shoulder and Mizuki felt her breath _hitch_, suddenly recoiling.

The look in the green-haired boy's eyes was a look she hadn't quite seen in any of her classmates' eyes, but rather, a look she could only remember seeing within pools of periwinkle that mirrored her own.

* * *

_("You don't say it like him, baka-zuki," Haru laughed, slamming his fists onto his hips. Periwinkle eyes clashed with her own; a near reflection. Though unlike her, her brother's eyes seemed to be lit aflame with the kind of determination only All-Might could rival. "He goes: S-" )_

* * *

**"****_SMASH_****!"** With a choked roar, the green-haired teen threw the boy with a resounding _bang_.

The air crackled as the ball soared into the distance, and a strong gust of wind whipped around Mizuki as she stumbled slightly into Ojiro. The bang of the boy's throw echoed in her ears.

_What just happened?_

"Aizawa-sensei," the boy rasped, holding his hand to his chest. Beeping softly, Aizawa-sensei's monitor flashed and much to Mizuki and her classmates' shock, the boy had managed to surpass Bakugo's score by 0.01. "I can still move," he exclaimed triumphantly, unaware of the shock that blanketed their class.

Naturally, the rest of her classmates broke out into a loud applause at the sheer ludicracy of what just happened. Some praised the power behind the boy's throw, while others praised his style.

Mizuki, on the other hand, said nothing. Instead, her periwinkle eyes remained glued to his discoloured pinky, her mind painting a picture of another boy. This time, more broken and bloodied than the one in front of her.

Unease settled in her stomach, and for the first time since she'd looked at him, Mizuki looked away.

It became harder to think after that.

Even when Aizawa-sensei announced that the expulsion had been just a ruse, even when he'd given the green-haired boy a name to go by (_Midoriya. His name was Midoriya_); the feeling in Mizuki's stomach did not dissapear. If anything, the feeling only grew more turbulant as she brushed past the boy on the way back to class.

_(It occured to her later that day that Midoriya was perhaps the only student she hadn't introduced herself to)_

* * *

_**I like to think that, if anything, Mizuki will have astart off with a light dislike of Midoriya. It's not that he's a bad person, but rather, he reminds her of her brother in the same he reminds Aizawa of Shirakumo. Of course, this will change over time. **_

_**I enjoy reading your feedback and reviews, so if you have any; please comment! **_

_**~hanzsolo**_


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